All I want for Christmas is Jrue
It looks like the NBA season will begin next month, and trade rumors are bubbling up now.
Good morning. I hope you’re feeling as well as anyone can feel these days. We are back to our regularly scheduled newsletter schedule, especially because (as you’ll read below) it appears the 2020-21 NBA season is right around the corner. Let’s basketball.
Frontispiece to John Taylor’s The Vindication of Christmas, 1652
This Christmas
Hey, how about some Tori Kelly singing a Christmas song?
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Adrian Wojnarowski report that in separate meetings scheduled for Thursday, the NBA Board of Governors and players’ union are expected to approve a deal that will have the 2020-21 season begin on December 22 and last 72 games. The league appears to have come down on its request of the portion of player salaries to be held in escrow, from 25% to 18% over the next two seasons. (Avoiding another fight about this next summer is a smart move.) As I’ve written over the past week or so, this always felt like the compromise underneath the bluster from star players and agents. It seems like a reasonable compromise from the outside.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania ($) reports that players believe the December 22 start date is inevitable, but that January 18 (Martin Luther King Day) is still possible. He also lays out the league calendar teams are working off of, which (with the December 22 start) would have the playoffs beginning in late May and the Finals ending in late July, just before the Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin.
Meanwhile, the moratorium on player movement could be lifted rather quickly after the deal is reached out, so there’s a non-zero chance we could have pre-draft trades this weekend. Free agency would begin after the November 18 NBA Draft and training camp would open December 1. If this goes through, it will indeed be a mad dash for teams and for newsletter writers trying to preview the season!
We should know more by Friday morning. Basketball!
Tis The Season
We have a big name player now firmly on the table as trade rumors perk up, and it’s (fittingly) Jrue Holiday! Shams reported that the Pelicans are openly discussing Holiday trade offers and contenders are interested, as they should be. The teams frequently mentioned as Holiday targets are the Nuggets and Heat. Holiday can become a free agent in 2021 (he has a $26 million player option for the following season), so non-contending teams need to be wary of overpaying for a rental.
There’s no major reason for David Griffin and the Pels to be rash here. There aren’t many options on the trade market or free agency for teams in need of veteran two-way point guards. Miami could re-sign Goran Dragic if they can’t pull off a deal for Holiday, Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry (who I do not believe is on the market anyway). Patience could pay off. Frankly, patience has probably already paid off — Holiday seems to be in as much demand as he was at the last trade deadline, when New Orleans held him.
I will say that I do not really get the Nets’ reported interest in declining their option on Garrett Temple and trading for Holiday. Holiday is, of course, substantially more productive than Temple on offense. Both play good defense; Holiday is younger and better. What makes Brooklyn think they need even more offense, though, unless they plan to restrict regular season action for Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving? As I said, Temple is a smart defender and, like Holiday, an excellent locker room presence. And keeping Temple will cost Brooklyn only his $5 million salary and a roster spot. Getting Holiday likely means losing Temple and a good piece that New Orleans will request, maybe Jarrett Allen? It’s an upgrade for sure, but there’s a trade-off that will affect multiple seasons and I’m not sure about taking that plunge before even seeing the KD-Kyrie duo in action.
Links
Erika Weems of Akron was killed by gunfire this week. Her brother is Cavs scouting director Brandon Weems, and LeBron James grew up as a close friend of the Weems family. Both LeBron and the Cavaliers are raising awareness of Erika’s murder and asking for information that will help police find the perpetrator.
Mike Prada makes the case that Kevin Durant should be back to his old self after his Achilles tear.
What Daryl Morey has said about how he plans to take the Sixers to the NBA Finals.
Kelly Dwyer on Morey heading to Philadelphia. ($)
Really great history of the American Basketball League of the ‘90s from Maitreyi Anantharaman.
Dan Devine brings the five most interesting under-the-radar NBA free agents.
Karl-Anthony Towns opens up about his mother’s death from COVID-19 and the toughest year of his life.
Bill Walton talks about taking his Bird-era Celtics teammates to a Grateful Dead show in 1985.
Make some tortillas. Be happier.
We’ll be back tomorrow. Be excellent to each other.